Pearson Test of English General English Exams for … G Level 4 – Advanced PTE G Level 5 –...

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Date: 17.10.2017 Speaker: David Booth

Pearson Test of English General English Exams for Teens and Adults

Motivation

What motivates students

The clue is in the word “test”. Whether externally or internally motivated, students wish to test their knowledge and their learning; they want to see how they are developing. The best things that teachers and educators can do to support students are: •  Help students identify their motivation – who is their English for?

Themselves? Parents? A job opportunity? •  Teach courses that develop communicative ability and

knowledge, not just to pass a test •  Help them identify their dominant learning styles •  Give students the best understanding and confidence about the

task types they will face

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Why take PTE General?

PTE General offers a unified and consistent assessment solution at six levels of proficiency that gives test takers the opportunity to identify their strengths, and track improvement and success over time. PTE General is widely used by test takers who are looking for a general English test that allows them to build a portfolio of their communicative language ability for travel, to improve their employment prospects or for further education. It’s Valid for Life.

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Some details

The History of PTE General

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PTE General at a glance

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Type of test General English graded assessment program at six levels of proficiency

Skills tested Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing

Levels PTE G Level A1 – Foundation PTE G Level 1 – Elementary PTE G Level 2 – Intermediate

PTE G Level 3 – Upper Intermediate PTE G Level 4 – Advanced PTE G Level 5 – Proficient

CEFR alignment

PTE G Level A1 – CEF A1 PTE G Level 1 – CEF A2 PTE G Level 2 – CEF B1

PTE G Level 3 – CEF B2 PTE G Level 4 – CEF C1 PTE G Level 5 – CEF C2

Age Teenagers & young adults (12+ onwards)

Test format Part 1: written section (paper & pen) Part 2: spoken paper (compulsory oral interview)

Test length PTE G A1 – 1 hour 15 minutes PTE G L1 – 1 hour 35 minutes PTE G L2 – 1 hour 35 minutes

PTE G L3 – 2 hours PTE G L4 – 2 hours 30 minutes PTE G L5 – 2 hours 55 minutes

Consistency of a multi-level graded assessment program Consistency from level to level and across all levels is paramount to institutions selecting and implementing an assessment programme across a number of grades or courses in a school or institution.

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•  No hidden surprises, no false starts, no sudden jumps in difficulty from one test to the other, no variations in the test format.

•  PTE General offers a unified

assessment program at six levels of proficiency from a very low level (A1) to a very high level (C2), offering something to all learners.

Easily integrated into a general English curriculum

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The types of tasks that candidates have to work on in the tests are similar to those found in most modern communicative course books. Most modern course books will provide practice relevant to the test. There is, therefore, no need to do a specific PTE General course prior to taking the test.

With an approach that matches that of most general English courses, fitting PTE General around a general English program could not be easier.

Assessment of communicative ability rather than test-taking skills

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The purpose of PTE General is to assess learners ability to communicate and use English effectively.

The emphasis is on communicative skills; that is the ability that the test taker has to use the language for practical purposes.

The Student – a positive testing experience

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PTE General delivers a relaxed and enjoyable testing experience that is a natural continuation of what happens in classroom.

Available in May, June and December to coincide with school years.

For all those who are interested in using assessment as a way of building students' confidence and motivation, and raising school standards.

Motivation again!

What do you do to motivate students before they take an examination?

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Internal vs external motivation Ideas to motivate students when preparing for exams – phew, we could be here all day!

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Growth mindset learning Great work has been done by Carol Dweck regarding growth mindset learning. Check out her website: https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/.

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Talking the Talk Talk about what they have done in a positive way.

Don’t say “you are so smart,”. It is what you DO. Being smart implies that is what you are.

We want students doing smart things, behaving in wise ways. Here are some growth mindset statements. Think about others you can use.

•  You worked really hard on that.

•  I’m so proud of your progress!

•  You kept going, even when it is hard.

•  You have a tenacious attitude; I’m so proud that you never quit. And look at you,

•  You work well with other students. I like how you _____ (include everyone, listen to everyone, really worked hard to help everyone be part of the process — a true compliment.)

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Talking the Talk •  Wow! I can always count on you to

come prepared to class.

•  You really did ___ well because.

•  You know, I appreciate how I can trust you to tell me the truth. We can work through this together.

•  I can tell that you gave everything you had to this project

•  You thought of a great idea. Wow.

•  You know, that was a fascinating way to solve that problem. It showed real creativity. I’m proud of you.

•  Fantastic! That is so awesome.

.

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Some more details

PTE G and communicative ability: an example

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Assessment of communicative ability: an example

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Assessment of communicative ability: an example

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Assessment of communicative ability: integrated tasks

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Practical tips

Lesson plan •  Homework: What is an “autonomous car”? What is “carbon credit”? Do Internet

searches to find a short answer to each of these questions. •  Divide the class into two groups: A & B. •  Hand out copies of the text: “autonomous car” to group A, “carbon credit” to group B. •  Silent reading (OR could be homework) •  Group work: each group confers in order to prepare a list of the main points of their

text. They should solve comprehension problems collaboratively as far as possible, using dictionaries or online sources, but can appeal to the teacher if stuck.

•  Hand out the questions for the opposite text to each group. •  Group work: read the questions and discuss:

‒  What sort of word or phrase will fit in the gap? ‒  What question will you ask the members of the other group in order to fill the gap? ‒  Can you guess what the answers will be?

•  In each group, give each member a number depending on the size of the group (e.g 1 to 6 with groups of 6)

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•  Form pairs of students with same number from each group (1 with 1, 2 with 2 etc.)

•  Pair work: In each pair A asks B questions in order to fill the gaps. B answers from notes or from memory. Then B asks A.

•  Group work: Groups A and B re-form and compare notes. •  Whole class: final check on answers. •  Follow up (homework): write a summary of the text that you

didn’t read.

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Graded progression

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PTE General offers a pathway for graded progression from level to level and explicit opportunities to evaluate and accredit learning outcomes at each of the CEF levels

Graded progression: the Speaking test

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1 to 1 with an interlocutor: 3 or 4 parts

10. Talk about yourself (monologue)

11. Discussion (Levels 2 to 5 only)

12. Visual stimulus

13. Role play

Recorded and graded by a central team

Graded progression: the Speaking test at different levels

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Level 2

Level 3

Lesson plan A1, L1, L2 class •  Homework: Find an image containing a number of people in a realistic scenario such

as, “At a restaurant”. Find another image containing a contrasting view “At the park”. Do Internet searches to find an example for each of these.

•  Divide the class into two groups: A & B. •  Hand out copies of the images: “At a restaurant” to group A, “At the park” to group B. •  Silent “reading / viewing” (OR could be homework) •  Group work: each group confers in order to prepare a list of questions about their

image. They should solve comprehension problems collaboratively as far as possible, using dictionaries or online sources, but can appeal to the teacher if stuck.

•  Hand out the questions for the opposite topic image to each group: •  Group work: read the questions and discuss:

‒  What sort of words or phrases will fit for this topic? ‒  What questions would you ask about the image?

•  Form pairs of students with each pair having a group A and B student, and images •  Pair work: A asks B questions about their topic image. B answers from notes or from

memory. Then B asks A about their topic image.

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•  Group work: Groups A and B re-form and compare notes. •  Whole class: final check on answers. •  Follow up (homework): write a description of the image that

your group worked on

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Lesson plan L3, L4, L5 class •  Homework: Find different images that link to the topic, “People playing sport”. Find

and “Young people playing video games”. Do Internet searches to find examples for each of these.

•  Divide the class into two groups: A & B. •  Hand out copies of the images: “People playing sport” images to group A, “Young

people playing video games” images to group B. •  Silent “reading / viewing” (OR could be homework) •  Group work: each group works to prepare a list of questions about their images. The

questions should focus on the pros and cons of each situation, and should include justification and reasons

•  Hand out the questions for the opposite images to each group: •  Group work: read the questions and discuss:

‒  What sort of words or phrases are suitable for discussing the images? ‒  Which is the best arguments for and against? Why?

•  Form pairs of students with each pair having a group A and B student, and images •  Pair work: A asks B questions about their topic images. B answers from notes or from

memory. Then B asks A about their topic images. 31 PTE General

•  Group work: Groups A and B re-form and compare notes about the best answers.

•  Whole class: final check on answers. •  Follow up (homework): write a summary of the discussion –

useful for section 9

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Learning Resources

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There is a wealth of free learning resources available online offering something for everyone!

•  Test Guides for each level

•  Test Tutorials for each level

•  Practice tests for each level

•  Test Centre Handbook

•  Test Tips

•  Score Guide

•  Learning material clearly linked to test

outcomes

Those details in summary

To recap

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•  Consistency of a multi-level graded assessment program

•  Aligned to the Common European Framework (CEF)

•  Easily integrated into a general English curriculum

•  Positive and motivating testing experience

•  Assessment of communicative ability rather than test-taking skills

•  Graded progression

•  A wealth of learning resources

Questions

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Useful info:

certificates, materials, archives, video

tutorials, calendar of events

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